This invention relates in general to a method and apparatus for cleansing, disinfecting, and de-odorizing a flushing toilet tank and toilet bowl each time the toilet is flushed.
The preferred automatic toilet bowl cleaning device of the present invention is in the form of a dispensing mechanism entirely passive in nature, that is, it has no moving parts. Moreover, such mechanism is highly reliable in operation, is readily moldable and extremely simple in construction, and therefore is inexpensive to manufacture.
A variety of toilet bowl cleaners have been known in the art and for a complete understanding of the features and advantages of the present invention, reference may be made by way of background material to the following patents and other references: U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,277,853, 4,318,891, and 3,781,926.
Basically, all of the cleaning devices described in the aforenoted patents comprise a container which is located within the water tank associated with a toilet bowl, and a disinfectant or cleaning compound included within the container. The disinfectant or cleaning compound inside the container takes the form of a more or less standard solid cake composed of urea, synthetic detergents, and blue dye. A plurality of openings provides exposure to water so the compound will be dissolved and thereby delivered to the bowl when the toilet is flushed.
Whatever the merits of these devices as described in the patents, they do not afford the advantages associated with the present invention. Moreover, from actual tests that have been conducted on commercially available toilet bowl cleaners, it has been found that their cleaning action is not consistent and in some circumstances (for example, due to cold water or low water pressure), they do not dispense at all.
It has been discovered that if the openings in the cover or closure for the cleaning device are suitably formed and disposed, then a far superior performance can be realized than is available from those devices now on the market. Test data is furnished hereinafter to support this claim.
Accordingly, it is a twin object of the present invention to provide an extremely simple toilet bowl cleaning device, yet one that will enable consistent dispensing of disinfectant material along with the blue dye material commonly used, so that there will be a consistent color of the water in the toilet bowl as an indicator of proper dispensing of the cleaning solution.
Accordingly, a primary feature of the present invention is in the context of a container structure which includes closed bottom and side walls for confining the cleaning compound and a cover which is fitted on the container. The significant aspect is that the cover is provided with a series of spaced holes extending through the top wall thereof, and a further series of spaced holes is provided extending through the side wall, the total area of all of the latter holes being less than the total area of the former holes, with the former holes arranged in the diametrically opposite half of the cover from the latter.
Other and further objects, advantages and features of the present invention will be understood by reference to the following specification in conjunction with the annexed drawing, wherein like parts have been given like numbers.